The chef poses in front of his new pizza oven (Images: Karon Liu)
“Would you like to try a pizza?” asks chef Mark McEwan as he stands in front of the wood-burning oven at his newest restaurant, Fabbrica, located in the suburban Shops at Don Mills. “It’ll only take 90 seconds, and we can eat it at the bar.” Never mind that he’s expecting dozens of guests for a preview dinner or that he also has to head downtown in an hour or two to do his second book signing this week; McEwan sits down and shares a salsiccia pizza (lamb sausage, caramelized fennel, mozzarella) with us like it was a lazy Sunday afternoon.
McEwan is used to having a full plate. Last month, for example, he released his first cookbook, finished filming the first season of Top Chef Canada (it’s set to air in the spring), oversaw a TIFF party for the cast of The Town, promoted a celebrity charity cook-off, kept an eye on his year-old grocery store (McEwan), watched over three of the city’s top restaurants and prepared for the opening of his fourth.
Fabbrica’s concept: traditional Italian—the menu has the requisite antipasti, primi and secondi headings—with a push on Neapolitan pizzas. Wood-burning brick oven brought over from Naples? Check. Roma tomatoes from the San Marzano valley? Check. Hand-milled flour imported from the home country? Check. Executive chef Rob LeClair sent to New York to train under the Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani? Done and done.
“Simple Italian is always the hardest to make because it’s either perfect or it’s not,” says McEwan whose culinary background is French. “I like regional food rather than big tasting menus. Just give me three things on a plate, not eight.”
The space was designed by Giannone Petricone Associates, which has made urban-rustic Italian restaurants its bread and butter: Terroni, Osteria Ciceri e Tria, Il Fornello on Church. It’s a breezy, sun-drenched piazza in the front and a dimly lit setting with geometric motifs in the back. Bearing in mind the restaurant’s name, which means “factory” in Italian, elements of industrial design are evident in the oven’s metal and bolt façade, a decorative sewer grate on the ground and wallpaper that looks like an abstract blueprint.
There’s also a small curing room where salumi hang from the ceiling and the walls are lined with jars of pickled vegetables. Like McEwan’s neighbouring food store, Fabbrica aims to bring quality cuisine to residents north of Bloor where big box restos currently reign. “There’s a huge market up here, and it’s an untapped market. You have a lot of young professionals moving into these neighbourhoods, and so far most of the big chains own the north end of the city.”
There are, however, limits to his expansion plan. He’s still looking—but is in no hurry—to open a second grocery store downtown. He wants to find the perfect 12,000 square feet of space. McEwan also adds that he turned down an offer to open a restaurant in Las Vegas. But he then continues to say he’s already working on a second cookbook.
“Who knows. Maybe one day I’ll finally spend a year not doing anything.”
Fabbrica, 49 Karl Fraser Rd. (at Shops at Don Mills), 416-391-0307.
Looks beautiful and wonderful can’t wait to indulge, reminds me of la fratelli buffula in Italy.
October 1, 2010 at 3:21 pm | by Culinerdwhat at waste of trees for these ovens
October 3, 2010 at 8:32 pm | by dswhere is this fratelli buffalo in italy?
October 3, 2010 at 8:44 pm | by dsAnother PIZZA Joint? whatever !
October 3, 2010 at 11:28 pm | by briggsFratelli Buffula there are a few in Italy, they have about 8 locations world wide from Miami to Dubai then in Italy alone maybe 25+ locations across the country. They have great food and my fave while I was living there smoked Mozzerella and rapini with lots of garlic.
October 4, 2010 at 8:16 am | by CulinerdBonjour, je vais passer quelques jours au Canada et j’aimerai manger au restaurant de Mark. Je suis toutes les émissions sur cuisine tv et j’aimerai goûter à sa cuisine. Comment puis je faire pour réserver une table?
October 4, 2010 at 8:25 am | by poiretteNadia.
Oh I hope they decide to deliver!!!!
October 4, 2010 at 11:06 am | by whaatNadia,
J’ai remarqué un lien sur leur site (www.fabbrica.ca) pour faire les réservations sur http://www.opentable.com. Si vous préférez, vous pourriez les téléphoner(416.391.0307).
Je pense que vous pourriez faire les réservations pour les autres restaurants de Mark (North44, etc) sur opentable aussi. Bon appétit!
October 5, 2010 at 11:52 pm | by fellocelloHorrible food. Not worth the money, very expensive for what it’s worth. Dishes are very unsual, fried pigs tails with polenta, veal brains, headcheese, rabbit, quail, etc. no chicken on the menu and if you want beef you have to pay $75 for a porterhouse steak(32oz) to split with another person. What if the other person doesn’t want or eat beef? Keep in mind, for the main meals are all a la carte, avg $15 per dish. Pizza’s are so, so bad, i can’t believe they cannot make a normal pizza, pizza dough, very salty, sauce is awfully and stingy on the toppings, especially cheese. This is not Italian by any standards. My advice, be very careful, you may be very disappointed.
October 7, 2010 at 5:17 pm | by scottRob LeClair should have gone to naples to train, not new york, to make pizza, just looking at the pizza tells you they don’t know what they are doing
October 7, 2010 at 10:01 pm | by dsThe point of opening a restaurant is to NOT have the same dishes as every other restaurant…I don’t need to see Chicken on a menu, I can cook that at home….
Trust me, the usual dishes found in the typical North American ‘Italian’ restaurant are FAR from authentic….
Rose’ sauce with everything, anyone ? Caesar Salad ?( nothing to do with the Emperor or Italy aside from the fact that there are ( or should be )anchovies in there….
Re Pizza : It is very hard to replicate true ‘Pizza Napoletana’…( you can get the right flour, yeast and some of the ingredients but a huge factor like the water, is vital, it is VERY different here in N America )
October 8, 2010 at 9:21 am | by GiovanniHats off to Mr McEwan for the vision and taking the plunge……….
Italian food is very simple, yet very different and there are many styles of Italian cuisine. If you go to any other “Italian” restaurant in Canada,you will see veal parmigiana, or lasagna on the menu. Mark McEwan, is not one to follow these chains of restaurants by having these repeated dishes on his menu. If you have ever been to Italy, you would understand how something so simple can taste so good. Pizza from Napoli is very hard to replicate. Many of you do not understand the art of making a pizza because you yourselves are not chefs. “Pizza Pizza” is “normal pizza” to us, which almost all of us are used to, and people do not realize how much calories those pizza’s have in them. Compared to Mark McEwan’s new restaurant, who makes pizzas that are simple and delightful, all ingredients made from scratch. Mark McEwan opens fine dining restaurants not fast food restaurants, so of course on the menu there will be dishes people have never seen before. The idea is in hope that people will widen there palates and be adventurous to try something they haven’t before. The food is expensive because everything Fabbrica makes is from scratch, and nothing is shipped from a factory already pre-made ready to heat up. You pay for quantity and you get quality.
October 11, 2010 at 5:06 pm | by NatashaI am Italian,grew up on real Italian food, traveled and ate in Italy for years, this is CRAP…
October 13, 2010 at 9:31 pm | by dsDoes Mark McEwan pay ppl to lick his *****, I lived in Italy, worked in Italy(Kitchen) worked with Michlein starred Chefs. I worked with the mothers of friends I made to learn hand crafted Italian food, I lived on a farm for a month to feel what Campagna really meant. I think a lot more ppl should go into the back of many kitchens thru out the city and I think they would be at shock who really used pre made shit, to in house made foods.
October 14, 2010 at 8:13 am | by CulinerdGiovanni said it right you can replicate bc of reasons being we don’t have what Italy has. IE water is so important for making a lot of everything in Italy speak to a Napoletano tell him that in Bologna they make better espresso then they do, watch what happens….
If Fabrica wants to imitate or copy a true Napolitana Pizza, they are very close, the taste and ingredients are there, but the Pizza needs to be cooked.
October 14, 2010 at 10:22 am | by fd